Pre-Camp Preview: Building On The Foundation

SALEM, Ore.– As they were taking turns on special teams on kick return and mentally preparing for the second day of camp at Littlejohn Field, North Salem knows the enthusiasm for the season to come is they come together as a team for the first time as a whole ahead of two-a-days.

“For us, as for the gradual conditioning of our kids,” said Viking Head Coach Jeff Flood. “I think this week really plays into a really important part. It’s hotter now, we want to get as much conditioning as we can before we actually put on the pads, so this has been a great week because it’s not hot out. Kids can gradually get into shape.”

Special Team work turned into conditioning under the mostly cloudy skies in Salem as they worked around the turf field in a circuit fashion as they gear up for their first round of padded practices August 15.

“We’re looking great, we’re way ahead than we thought we would coming out of weights,” said Hunter Sullivan. “We’ve had more guys showed up, more than double our numbers. Our offensive looks great, our defense probably looks better than it did last year.”

Flood enjoyed how his team has came together during the summer months behind a core group of kids that helped lay a foundation in which they’re building from entering Day Two of camp.

The Vikings started Tuesday’s Practice with an half-hour conditioning period (Picture By Jeremy McDonald)

“Great, fantastic, excited, just enthusiastic, focused,” Flood described his kids to this point. Kind of exactly what we needed out of them. We’ve had a core group of kids who were involved in our summer workouts and involved in seven-on-sevens competitions, .

“We’ve had a huge group that went to camp over in Redmond, 75 kids and that kind of propelled us into the summer program and our summer program has laid the foundation for what we’re doing for this week and entering next week.”

With conditioning wrapped up and turned into offense on the scoreboard side of Littlejohn field and defense on the school side of the field, the North Salem Viks look to continue to build for yet another tough run ahead within the Greater Valley Conference after a successful Day one of camp Monday.

“They are some key players that are going to take us a long ways,” said Sullivan. “I think that was the best Day One in the four years I’ve been here, and we have to keep the whole thing going.”

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